


Close Quarters

by Rumaan



Category: SKAM (Spain)
Genre: Best friend's brother, F/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, coronavirus tw, quarantine fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23558956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumaan/pseuds/Rumaan
Summary: Cris and Dani find themselves in quarantine with the Naybets. Hidden feelings come to the surface
Relationships: Amira Naybet/Dani Soto Peña
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Lovely Jen, who wrote [this post](https://norwaydumpsterfireremakes.tumblr.com/post/613945988301897728/danmira-quarantine-au-where-for-some-reason-or) on Tumblr and then sent it to me knowing I would have to write something! 
> 
> These are going to be little ficlets about incidents rather than a long fic with a massive overarching storyline because writing anything bigger right now is not really feasible for me. Obviously, it's quarantine fic based around the coronavirus so I completely understand if that is not what you want to read. This fic has been tagged as well as I can for this and this is a futher warning so please do not read if this subject will upset you.

There was only one thing more scary than the coronavirus pandemic and that was having a dad who was a doctor working on the front lines of the pandemic in one of the worst hit cities in the world. Then there was the fact that it was too risky for him to come home. So on top of being worried sick about him, they only got to FaceTime, too.

At least he wasn’t having to stay in a hotel or anything. With Cris’ parents back at the village and her older brothers living with their girlfriends, it was decided that Cris and Dani would come and stay with the Naybets and Baba would go and stay in their flat. So now there was the weird scenario of having Cris sharing her room and Dani sleeping on the couch.

Which led to Amira sneaking through the living room early one morning to make her way into the kitchen. She was congratulating herself on not standing and staring at how adorable he was when he slept - like a creeper - when there was a rustle of blankets behind her and a dozy mumbled, “good morning.”

Amira jumped in shock and spun around with her heart beating crazily in her chest. “You scared me!” 

“Sorry,” Dani replied with a sleepy smile. With his tousled hair and sleep hazed eyes, it was amazing she was still breathing. “You’re up early.”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Cris snoring?”

“Ha! No, it was Coco demanding to be fed.”

The feline in question pranced into the room, licking her paws delicately and looking as if she hadn’t spent the last half an hour pawing at Amira’s face to insist she woke up.

“I was going to make some coffee? Want some?”

Dani sat up, the blankets falling down to his waist as he stretched his arms up and Amira’s mouth dried up as she struggled to tear her eyes away from the way his biceps and shoulders moved in the undershirt he wore. “Sure.”

Suppressing the little sigh that wanted to escape out her mouth as Dani put his fingers out towards Coco who pranced forward gracefully and sniffed at them and allowed Dani to scratch her under the chin, Amira turned back towards the kitchen. Even her cat was charmed by him. This crush was going to kill her. It had been bad enough when she only saw Dani every now and again, but now he was around 24/7 and she was close to spontaneously combusting. Whoever thought unrequited love was a good thing was stupid. She hated every second of crushing so hard on her best friend’s brother who looked at her as if she was just another little sister.

She was so aware of him that she knew when he came into the kitchen and it took all of her concentration not to fumble as she filled the Moka pot with water, spooned the coffee in and screwed it together to put on top of the stove. She leaned back against the counter as they waited for the coffee to percolate and looked towards where Dani rested in the doorframe. 

“You sleep okay?” she asked, desperate to try and break the slightly awkward silence between them.

“I slept great. It’s much easier sleeping on your moroccan sofas than it is the Spanish ones. What are they called again?”

“ _Sdader_ and they are pretty comfy.”

“You get to probably stretch out.”

“Good. Glad it’s not too bad having to stay here.”

Dani smiled softly. “Cris and I are grateful your parents took pity on us. We’d have killed each other spending quarantine with just us. Plus have you tasted Cris’ cooking? It’ll poison you. And I’m not much better. We’d have been surviving off ramen.”

Amira giggled. She had tasted Cris’ cooking and it wasn’t pretty. “Mama is always happy to have a houseful of people to feed.”

“Aunty Aicha cooks the best food. I keep sending Carlos and Fernando pictures of what we’re eating and they are so jealous. They want me to drop them care packages.”

“Mama’s cooking is famous in the community. It’s why our Imam always asks if she will contribute to _ftour_ for the mosque during Ramadan. Although I guess that won’t be happening this year.”

Amira’s face dropped. She loved going to pray _tarawih_ in the mosque during Ramadan and her mum always enjoyed making harira and a mixture of meat, chicken and cheese briouats for the mosque to serve for those breaking their fast there. Amira and Latifah were always pulled in to help her in the kitchen and some of her fondest memories were of the Qur’an playing throughout the house as they made piles of briouat.

“What is it?” Dani asked, stepping forward with his hand stretched out.

“Just Ramadan is coming up and Baba won’t be here and we won’t be able to go to the mosque. It feels stupid to be sad about this in the current circumstances but I can’t help it.”

“It’s not stupid at all,” he said with an understanding smile. “I got mad the other day because my team was top of the league and then all the Rugby got cancelled. We’re human and we miss normality.”

Her eyes caught his and time seemed to slow down and stop as they stared at each other sharing a moment of mutual sympathy. His face softened even further as he moved half a step forward and her heartbeat sped up until she could feel it strumming through her pulse points. His eyes skittered down to her lips for a brief second before returning to hers with a heat in them she hadn’t seen before. Then the Moka pot lid started to rattle and the moment was broken. 

Amira quickly spun round and turned the hob off as she tried to regulate her breathing as surreptitiously as she could whilst Dani grabbed a couple of cups. The strange atmosphere between them had dissipated but she couldn’t help but notice how in sync they were as they prepared their coffee, passing sugar and milk to and fro as they circled each other in perfect harmony. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one affected by his presence. Was it possible he felt something for her too?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cris tries to cook

Amira still wasn’t sure that her mum truly knew just what she was getting into. Okay, her mum had known Cris since they both were in pigtails and would sit at the kitchen table with a big pile of crayons and colour in their favourite Disney princesses, but her mum had never seen Cris in the kitchen in a cooking capacity. 

However Amira had and she was currently cringing in anticipation at just how wrong this could go. Dani was also lurking with a gleeful expression on his face. It was clear he was fully expecting this to go poorly and to laugh hard when it did.

“Cris, are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to. You can change your mind,” Amira said, trying as hard as she could to avert a disaster.

“Shush, Mimi, habiba, and let Cris concentrate,” her mum said with a dismissive hand wave in Amira’s direction. 

“Yeah, Amy! I’m totally learning to cook. If anyone can teach me then it’s Auntie Aicha.” 

“I’m only trying to help,” she muttered under breath. 

Dani elbowed her, “Stop trying to ruin my fun!”

“It’s not going to be fun when she singes her eyebrows off.”

He all but cackled. “Please let that happen! It would take her weeks to grow them back and I would be able to get blackmail photos to last me years.”

“You’re no help,” she grumbled with an exasperated shake of her head.

“So we need to keep the heat low to medium whilst the onions cook,” her mum was saying to Cris. “Keep stirring them. We need them to be translucent but not browned.” 

Amira grimaced at the slightly lackadaisical way in which Cris was stirring. It didn’t inspire much confidence however she was going to hope for the best. Afterall, there was no one more experienced in the kitchen than her mum and as Cris had confidently stated, if anyone could teach her then it would be Aicha Naybet. If anything, Amira and Dani were going to be pleasantly surprised - well, she was anyway. He was probably going to be disappointed.

“How long before Cris ruins the food?” Dani whispered, leaning slightly towards her so his warm breath stirred her scarf and she had to suppress a shiver of reaction.

“She’s got this,” Amira replied with a dogged loyalty she wasn’t sure she totally pulled off.

Dani raised an eyebrow in disbelief and she narrowed her eyes at him in reply.

“Of course I’m going to have faith in my best friend.”

“So young and misguided,” he teased. “I don’t even think she’ll make the garlic and spices stage.”

“Oh ye of little faith.” 

“It’s called years of living with Cris.” 

Amira wanted to object but she had witnessed one too many Cris cooking disasters to truly think she would make it through cooking a whole meal. “She’ll get to where you stir in the tomato purée.”

Dani grinned roguishly at her. “Atta girl. I knew you couldn’t be _that_ confident. I bet you the last muffin I’m right.” 

“Nope. No way. That muffin is mine! I’ve been saving it all day.”

He pouted. “But you know they are my favourite.”

“Mine too!” She exclaimed, doing her best to ignore his adorable puppy eyes even when they turned her insides into mush.

“Go halfsies?”

“You ate 3 last night!”

“I did that kickboxing workout on YouTube and needed to replenish.”

Amira didn’t need a reminder of that workout. She’d all but ogled him from where she could see him from the desk in her room. It had taken Cris throwing her camel at her for her to pay attention to what her friend had been saying. Luckily, Cris hadn’t realised just what had taken all her attention because she wasn’t sure just how she would explain that away.

However, before she could reply there was a shout from the kitchen and she cut her eyes back across to her mum and Cris in time for Cris, clutching her hand, to somehow knock the hob control knob all the way to max and catch the bottom of her braid on fire. 

Chaos reigned for a hectic couple of seconds as both she and Dani leapt forward. Dani quickly tamped the on fire hair completely out with a tea towel as Amira towed Cris to the sink. Her mum was left turning the heat down and salvaging the onions. 

“Where did you burn yourself?” Amira asked.

“There,” Cris said, holding her wrist out where a red welt was already popping up. “I only banged it against the side of the pan for a second or so.”

“Let’s get it under the cold water.”

“Until the sting has gone,” Aicha called out. “Then put some antiseptic cream on it.”

“It hurts,” Cris said with a little whimper. “And what happened to my hair?”

“Nothing a haircut won’t fix,” Dani said with enough feigned horror to panic his sister.

“What?!” His sister shrieked.

Amira glared at him. “It’s fine,” she said, assessing the damage. “Just needs the smallest of a trim.”

“Jerk!” Cris muttered as she elbowed him hard in the stomach.

He sucked in a breath at the impact but a second later, turned to Amira, grinned, and said, “You owe me half your muffin.”

She rolled her eyes but conceded. “Okay, half but you’re making the tea.”

“Deal!” he replied happily.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Latifah catches Amira unawares

“Is that Dani’s cologne?” 

“What?! No!” Amira said, throwing the bottle on her bed in a panic before she turned to face her sister who had come into her room - without knocking it was to be noted.

Her sister raised her eyebrows and sent her an amused look. “It totally is but sure try and pretend it isn’t.”

Heat infused her cheeks as she looked anywhere but at Latifah or the bottle half buried in the mess of her blankets.

“Why do you have it?” Latifah asked, interested.

“I found it in the bathroom.”

“It’s been in the bathroom since he arrived so you’re going to need to try harder than that.”

Amira huffed. Her sister was stupidly insightful at times and it was frustrating. When other 15 year olds were too busy scrolling through Instagram, her sister was sneaking up on her and asking difficult questions.

“You do realise that I’m not going to go away until I get an answer, right?”

“Because that would be useful,” Amira muttered under her breath.

“What was that, sister dearest?”

“Ugh, go away!”

“No. I want to know why you have Dani’s cologne.” 

“None of your business.”

“Yeah good luck with that. Cris’ll probably be here in a minute. I’m sure she’d be interested in your answer too.”

Glaring, Amira snapped, “I don’t know. I kind of just took it before I thought about it.”

Latifah snickered. “You were totally going to spray your pillow with it, weren’t you?”

“No!” She scoffed.

She hadn’t even come up with a plan about what to do with it other than holding it up to her nose and smelling it with her eyes closed.

“Wow, your crush is reaching epic proportions.”

“Crush? What crush?”

Her sister shot her a maddeningly superior look. “The one you’ve been harbouring on Dani for months. You think you’re all slick but I clocked it almost immediately.”

Amira attempted to brazen it out. “I have no idea what you’re talking about?”

“Riiiiight.”

“I’m totally transparent, aren’t I?” She asked, slumping down on her bed and then having to immediately get back up again as she’d sat on the cologne bottle. She picked it up, sank back down on her bed, fidgeting with the bottle. 

“To me? Yeah. But that’s because I’m your little sister and it’s my job to exploit your weaknesses. But to anyone else? Nah, don’t worry, no one else has noticed. Although-” Latifah started to say before breaking off.

“Although what?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t go all shy on me now. Give me your opinion.”

“I don’t want to encourage whatever this is,” her sister said, her finger pointing between her and the bottle several times.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You have to admit, stealing his cologne out of the bathroom is not a good look.”

“It wasn’t on purpose!” Amira exclaimed testily. “It just kind of happened.”

Latifah sat down on the edge of the bed, leaned over and grabbed one of her pillows, hugging it to her chest before levelling her with a serious look. “I don’t think this crush is one sided.”

“What?!”

“I think he has feelings for you too.”

For a brief second, Amira could do nothing but stare bug eyed at her sister as thoughts whirled chaotically around her mind. Then her head stopped spinning and she was able to maintain some semblance of coherent thought. The first of which was pure disbelief. At no point had she thought that Dani might return her feelings. This had always been one sided and she was fine with that. In fact, it almost felt safer that way. She could wallow in her feelings with no danger that she might actually have to confront them seriously or do anything about them. Almost as if she had a crush on a celebrity rather than a real life boy. 

“Hello,” Latifah said, waving a hand in front of her face. “Did I break you?”

“Possibly,” she said with a small smile.

“Wow, I didn’t think that would be so groundbreaking. I thought you had some sort inkling that you were suppressing.”

“Nope. No clue.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Do?” Amira hissed. “Nothing! What can I do?”

“Tell him.”

She looked at her sister as if she was crazy. “Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s what people do when they like someone.”

“You’ve watched too many rom-coms. This isn’t Hollywood. I can’t just blurt out my feelings and ride off into the sunset with him.”

“Well, yeah,” Latifah said with a giggle, bouncing up and down a little. “We’re on lockdown for a start!”

Amira gave her an unimpressed look. “There’s too many obstacles. He’s not Muslim for a start.”

Latifah stopped moving, tilted her head as if contemplating something and then sighed despondently as she clutched the pillow tighter to her chest. “Yeah that does complicate things.”

“Just a little,” she said with a snort.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Return this cologne bottle before anyone else finds out I took it and I look like a complete psycho.”

They both turned to look towards the front room as the slide of the balcony door opening could be heard.

“Do you want anything from the kitchen, Cris? I can bring something out on my way back from the bathroom.” They heard Dani call out. 

Wide eyed, Amira turned towards her sister. “Help!” She whispered. “I won’t be able to get this back into the bathroom if he goes in there now. What if he notices it missing and starts asking questions?”

Latifah gave her an emphatic nod. “No problem. Leave it to me.”

Chucking the pillow back up the bed, her sister got up, gave her a reassuring smile and then sailed forth. “Oh Dani! Just the person I needed. I need a textbook from last year and it’s top of my wardrobe and I can’t reach it. Could you bring it down for me?”

“Yeah, of course I can,” he replied.

They both turned to head towards the opposite end of the flat, Latifah giving her a little wink as they went.

Heart pounding in case someone else caught her, Amira snuck back into the bathroom with the cologne bottle in her hand and put it back in the cupboard above the sink. What had she been thinking to take it? If anyone else but Latifah had found her with it then she would have had a really hard time explaining her behaviour away. Now was not the time to answer awkward questions when there was no prospect of being able to run away and hide instead. She would have to be more careful and guard against this stupid crush more effectively.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amira, Dani and Latifah watch tv

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for why I'm posting this so late! I wrote it 2 weeks ago but with homeschooling my kids (it's as fun as you imagine!) and then with Ramadan starting, I just got busy and posting this took a backseat

The panicked, “Oh shit!” pulled Amira from her deep thoughts as she opened the door to her bedroom. She wished she was still not paying attention as she saw a flash of Cris’ boobs as she scrambled to get under the covers, her eyes even bigger than usual and her face flushed red.

It took Amira a minute, which she blamed on her distracted state, and the muffled laughter coming from Joana on the other end of the telephone before she truly figured out what was happening.

“Oh my God!” She exclaimed, heat rushing into her face as well. “I’m so sorry. I should have knocked.”

All she could see of Cris was the very top of her head as her friend still had the covers pulled up over her. “No, I’m sorry. I should have asked if this was okay.”

There was a giggled sorry from Joana too.

“Erm...no...it’s okay. I’ll just find somewhere else to go,” she said swiftly exiting and shutting the door behind her. “Let me know when you’re...er...finished.”

It was one thing hearing about your friend’s sex life and Cris was never reticent about that but it was a whole other thing to have to actually witnessed it. 

Amira bit her lip for a minute as she wondered where to go. She’d finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner and she didn’t fancy spending any more time there and her mum was FaceTiming her dad. She doubted she would be walking into a Cris and Joana situation there but it was hard enough on her parents to be apart for so long already. Her mum tried to show she wasn’t stressing about her dad but both she and Latifah knew she was. They all were. It was unavoidable. 

She could hear the tv in the front room. Dani would be in there - probably with Latifah as they tended to watch tv together in the evenings. Randomly they both had the same taste in tv shows. Of course, she could go in and join them but she was feeling weird around Dani and had lowkey been attempting to avoid him. She was dwelling on what Latifah had said and was analysing every interaction way too deeply. She was sure she was seeing things that weren’t there.

Sucking in a deep breath, Amira straightened her shoulders and walked into the front room. They were all in lockdown together in a flat so trying to dodge Dani was futile.

“You have perfect timing,” Latifah said, looking up from where she sat cross legged on a cushion on the floor. “Dani has never seen a Turkish drama so we’re rectifying that tonight.”

Her brow furrowed and she looked from her sister towards where Dani sat in a nest of blankets, his back leaning against the sofa. “You’re making him watch a Turkish drama?”

“Yep!”

Amira shot him a disbelieving glance. “You understand what you’re getting into, right? It’s not Hollywood. We’re talking lots of drama and cheesy special effects.”

“I have been warned. But I dare Turkey to bring on the drama! My mum is addicted to Mexican telenovelas so I’m immune to even the most insane story lines.” He said, waggling his eyebrows.

She couldn’t help but giggle.

“Oooh,” Latifah said. “We should do a comparison. Telenovelas versus Turkish dramas.”

“Let’s get through whatever you’re planning to inflict onDani first,” she said. “What are we watching?”

“Ertugrul! He’s going to love it.”

Amira gave an impressed nod. “You know what, I think you will.”

“I showed him the wedding videos already. You know the ones where the groom comes in with the theme music playing and through the men holding the Kayı shields.”

“And you still want to watch?” She said, looking at Dani.

“Nerds are going to Nerd regardless of what show they’re into.”

“True.”

“Besides, I’m looking forward to seeing something from a non European perspective. We watched the trailer and it’s refreshing to not be following a crusader knight.”

“You’re going to love it,” Latifah said. 

“She has told you how many episodes are in a season, right? And that there’s 5 seasons,” Amira asked.

“Yep,” Dani said, popping the p nonchalantly. “Perfect time to make the commitment.”

Amira had to laugh. He had a point. It’s not like there was much else to do.

“Are you going to keep asking annoying questions and trying to talk him out of watching or are you going to sit down and actually watch. You know you have the biggest crush on Ertugrul.”

Heat rushed into her cheeks at her sister’s words and she shot her a filthy glare as she said, through gritted teeth, “No I don’t. I just like that he’s honourable.”

“Yeah,” Latifah said with a roll of her eyes. “That honour is so hot.”

She huffed and plopped on the floor. “Shut up and just start the show.”

It wasn’t until the theme music had started that she realised she’d sat right next to Dani. Her breath sped up as she caught a whiff of the citrusy scent of his cologne.

“Here,” he whispered, handing her one of his blankets and pillow to rest her back on. 

“Thanks,” she murmured back, hoping he thought her cheeks were still hot from her sister’s teasing and not because he was so close. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me [on tumblr](https://rumaan.tumblr.com/) if you want to leave a little scenario for me to write about. I can't promise that I will but I'll happily try.


End file.
